The Real Rose Weasley
by yaya3606
Summary: The wager was supposed to be easy: get nerdy Rose Weasley to fall in love with me, win Mia's Puddlemere United season tickets. Simple enough... except Rose Weasley isn't so nerdy and I wasn't supposed to fall in love with her in the process.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This plot got stuck in my head as I was editing the last chapter of FWB: Scorpius and Rose Edition. This ScoRose will be different from the FWB ScoRose and I still plan to post the last chapter of FWB (still editing) but I just had to get this idea out of my head!

The bet idea comes from the beginning of the plot in "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days" but the rest of the story will be very different.

Please review :P. I have an idea of how I might write and finish this but your reviews and comments are a HUGE help to know if I should continue or if I'm headed in the right direction.

* * *

 ** _The Real Rose Weasley_**

 _September 2, 2022_

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yup."

"Nope."

"Yeah."

"Not happening."

"Yes, yes, yes…"

My friend, Frank Zabini, rolls his eyes as he stares at his Daily Prophet. He makes a habit of ignoring Mia Burke and me when we argue which is _all_ of the time.

Mia, my only friend that's a girl, is really hot with green eyes and silky long black hair that she constantly flicks over her shoulder. The thing about Mia is, she's awkward as shit. At Hogwarts, she's known as the "Frigid Bitch", "Ice Queen", or "Queen B(itch)." Her looks make guys fall at her feet while her coldness makes her seem untouchable.

She actually isn't _that_ cold. It's just that when you are the only child from a pure-blood family and you spend most of your childhood locked in the Burke Manor, you don't really pick up on social cues and in Mia's case, others' feelings at all.

Zabini, who I've known since I was in diapers, and I met Mia on the train to Hogwarts our first year. We found her awkwardness hilarious and the three of us have been friends since then. Being friends with Mia ended up being awesome. She, and by association Zabini and I, gets invited to all the cool and wild parties at school. Mia can also get her hands on firewhisky at the drop of a hat. How? Don't know, don't really care as long as I can get pissed whenever I want.

Anyways, because Mia is sooo "untouchable", I have appointed myself as the person to keep it real with Mia, which is why we argue all of the time. For example, today, Mia walked into the Great Hall for breakfast with the front strand of her hair the same color as my platinum blonde hair.

So of course being the humble Malfoy that I am, I tell Mia, "Clearly you changed your hair color to match mine because you're in love with me."

She, of course being in denial, responds with a scoff and a "You're bloody mental."

I naturally respond, "All girls love me and if they don't already I can get them to fall in love with me."

You might be thinking that I'm a conceited arsehole at this point. I'm not denying that at all. I'm saying there's a _reason_ I'm a conceited arsehole. The thing is, as a 6th year, I'm taller than all the other 6th years and most 7th years. I also have swishy and soft platinum blond hair that girls seem to want to run their hands through. I'm also a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch Team. So basically my existence is not even fair to members of the opposite sex.

So brief recap: I'm good-looking and I know it. Mia is crazy and in denial.

Which leads us back to the fight:

"Yes, yes, yes… I can get any girl to fall in love with me."

"You realize there's a difference between love and lust, right?" Mia asks pointing a fork at me.

"Yes, I do! I know the difference."

"She means more than wanting to snog you in cupboards, Malfoy," Zabini adds unhelpfully while still reading his newspaper.

"I know," I protest, "I've seen my dad with my mom and it's gross as shit. I know what love is!"

"Then you can't honestly think _any_ of your previous girlfriends actually fell in love with you," Mia says looking at me with eyebrows raised.

"I know they didn't," I respond while crossing my arms, "but that's because I break up with them before they fall too hard. I'm doing them a service."

Mia and Zabini groan in unison while I smile at them.

Mia then gets that mischievous look. The one she gets when she's about to ruin someone's life "on accident" because she doesn't get that other people have feelings. What does it say about me that I actually go along with most of her plans? Don't know, don't care at the moment.

"You say you can get any girl to fall in love with you?" Mia challenges with a sparkle in her eye.

"Yup!" I say knowing that I will likely regret this but not backing down because Malfoys don't back down.

"Fine, let's make this interesting," Mia retorts. "I pick the girl, and you have to make her fall in love with you by the end of the school year."

"Too easy! You're giving me so much time, I'll take it!"

"This is such a bad idea," Zabini mumbles. He's technically the moral compass of the group but we usually ignore his protests. This situation is no different.

"If I win," Mia continues, "when we go to Paris next summer, you have to go shopping with me as much as I want and carry my shopping bags... without complaining."

I wrinkle my nose while Zabini snorts while flipping to a new page in his Prophet.

"Fine! If I win, I want your Puddlemere United season tickets."

She squints at me clearly trying to figure out the chances of losing her tickets. Her dad gives her those tickets every year and she uses them to go on dates with whatever guy is her flavor of the month.

"Fine," she says slowly. "But remember, I get to pick the girl AND Zabini and I get to determine if she's actually in love with you," she adds while smirking.

I smirk back, "No cheating. She has to actually be straight and you guys can't lie WHEN she falls in love with me."

She starts scanning the room. "Clearly, it can't be a Hufflepuff."

"Why not?" I ask turning around toward the Hufflepuff table. As soon as I turn, a group of girls turn red and start giggling at the table. I give them a wink and their giggles get louder.

"That's why," Mia says while rolling her eyes. "Ravenclaws?" she asks while looking to another table. "No," she mumbles, "most of them would be too thankful that you're even talking to them."

Zabini rolls his eyes and finally puts his newspaper down. "You guys can't be serious."

"So Slytherin or Gryffindor?" I ask ignoring Zabini.

Mia grins at me. "It should be a Gryffindor. They are programmed to hate us."

Zabini snorts. "It's not the 1990s anymore, Mia," he chastises.

Mia turns to look at him and opens her mouth to respond when her eyes go wide and a smile plays at the ends of her lips.

I follow her gaze to… Rose Weasley!? "No," I protest.

"Oh, yes," she says while nodding. "She's perfect. A Gryffindor. And Al can warn her about what an arse you are."

I look at Rose Weasley sitting across from her cousin a few seats down from us at the Slytherin table. Don't get me wrong, Rose Weasley is hot in like a cute-hot way. She's got that pouty, full lips thing going on. She's got these deep blue eyes and insanely long eyelashes. She's also got long light red, wavy hair. Her body's not bad either. She's got a fairly decent chest size—not the biggest but _definitely_ not the smallest. Rose also has curves in all the right places with toned legs.

So what's the problem? Well there's a couple:

1\. James Potter, the tall and bulky captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and protective, crazy cousin of Rose. No one knows the full story of how Rose broke up with her last boyfriend, Lysander Scamander, but he did end up in the Hospital Wing for a week thanks to James.

2\. Al Potter, my teammate and Seeker of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Al and I aren't best friends but we're friendly enough and teammates. He _is_ best friends with Rose Weasley. I don't need my teammate hating me when I inevitably break his cousin's heart.

3\. James and Al are just two members of Rose's crazy arse family. I can't even keep track of how many Potter-Weasleys there are but they dominate the school. My face is too handsome to be beat on by a bunch of Rose's overprotective relatives.

4\. Rose Weasley is a… dork, to put it nicely. I never see her at any parties. She's part of the Music Club _and_ the Dance Club. I hear these clubs are run by Old Professor Flitwick. Who would _voluntarily_ spend their free time with Old Professor Flitwick? When she's not hanging with Al, I see Rose with her mini-nerd army: Alice Longbottom and Will Jordan.

So basically Rose Weasley is a giant nerd with scary family members. Hot in a cute way? Sure, but _so_ not worth it.

I look back at Mia ready to refuse. "It's my call," Mia teases now smirking at me.

I look over at Rose again. As she laughs with Al, I tilt my head looking at the cute dimples forming on her cheeks.

"You in?" I hear Mia ask me.

"Game on."


	2. Chapter 2

_September 8, 2022_

"Looks like you've made zero progress," Mia says while grinning and sitting across from me at the Slytherin table during dinner.

I try to give her a confident smile as I grab a lamb chop from a serving dish. "These things take time. I have a plan," I say with a shrug.

"It seems like she's not giving you the time of day," Zabini adds unhelpfully as he takes the seat beside me.

"I have her right where I want her," I mumble between bites.

The truth? _Operation Seduce_ … I mean, _Operation Get Rose Weasley to Fall in Love with Me_ is mostly a fail so far. Malfoys are always prepared so of course, I have a plan... if having the first step of a plan counts as having a plan.

Usually, it works like this: I wink at a girl. She swoons. I flirt. She flirts. We snog. If she's hot enough, we "date." I get bored. I break up with her.

But this is different. Rose has to fall in love with me. It's probably a good idea to actually talk to the person you're trying to make fall in love with you. So…

Step One: Have an actual conversation with Rose. Easy enough, right? _No_.

* * *

Last Monday, after our Potions class together, I tried making my move:

I casually lean against the wall in the hallway waiting for Rose to pass by. When she finally walks by, she's chatting with Alice.

"Hey," I say while running a hand through my hair. The hand through the hair move is usually an easy panty dropper.

Rose pauses and turns towards me. She barely glances at me before turning around again. She looks back at Alice and shrugs before continuing to walk down the hallway. Fail.

* * *

Last Wednesday, after our Charms class together, I tried to be a bit more forward:

I stand inside the classroom waiting by the doorway. When she walks by this time, I'm ready.

"Hey… Rose," I say as I nod at her.

Girls usually giggle when I nod at them but Rose Weasley? She looks up at me frowning slightly. "Um, hi," she responds looking confused.

I give her a dazzling smile. Most ladies can't resist my smile. Rose? She looks taken aback but gives me a small smile.

Before I can say anything else, she quickly says, "I've gotta go but I'll see you later?" She doesn't even let me answer her half-statement, half-question before sauntering out of the room. Again, fail.

* * *

Earlier today, after Herbology we actually had a "conversation":

"Hey, Rose," I say looking down at where she's packing up her books.

She looks up at me tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Hi," she says looking less surprised this time but still slightly surprised.

"How's it going?" I ask.

Her blue eyes meet mine and she starts squinting. "Are you okay, Scorpius?"

"Uhh, what?" I respond. Extremely eloquent, I know. I know.

"Is everything okay?" she asks me this time pouting.

"Rosie, we've gotta go!" Alice shouts from the doorway of the greenhouse.

Rose looks back at her friend and shouts back, "Be right there!" She turns back to me with a concerned look while touching my arm. "I've gotta go but if something's wrong maybe you can talk to Al? You guys are roommates and teammates, right?"

I nod wordlessly and she gives me a sad smile before running off toward Alice. Awesome, so now something's wrong with me? Fail.

I actually went to the bathroom to make sure, I still look good. Don't worry, I still do.

Recap of my week so far: I still look good but clearly something's off with Rose Weasley.

* * *

"Ohhh, she's walking this way," Mia teases. "But not... to sit next… to you," she finishes in a sing song voice.

I roll my eyes and smirk trying to look unfazed.

"Do you wanna fly around tomorrow evening?" Zabini asks me.

"No can do," Mia says frowning.

"We've got detention for getting caught sneaking back from the Kitchen at midnight," I explain.

"What's the point of being a Prefect if you can't be out past curfew?" Zabini asks me.

I know what you're thinking. Scorpius Malfoy? A Prefect? Here's the thing: I'm really good at remembering things. Insanely good. I read something once and it's just kinda stuck in my head. This includes useless information that I will never need. I can tell you Puddlemere United scores from three years ago. Other than being a cool party trick, those scores are absolutely frickin' useless information in my head. But, my ability to remember stuff also means that I'm one of the top students in my year. So despite being a bit of a cocky arse, I got the Prefect badge the summer before my 5th year. When I casually suggested that _maybe_ I would turn it down, my mum _grunted_ at me. Grunted. Astoria Malfoy does not grunt... but when she does grunt, it's scary. So yea, I'm a Prefect.

I shrug at Zabini in response to his question. "It's hard to convince Filch that you're patrolling while holding chocolate cake."

Zabini nods. "Who do you have this time?"

"Hagrid," I say.

"Hopefully he doesn't make us walk through the Forbidden Forest," Mia says while chewing on her bottom lip.

"So _mudblood_ , not only did you ruin my breakfast but you also have to ruin my dinner too?!"

Zabini, Mia, and I groan and roll our eyes as we look over to see Sam Goyle standing by Rose and Al. From the corner of my eye, I can see Will Jordan and Alice Longbotoom rushing over. Don't hate on my house too much. Most Slytherins are used to Rose sitting at our table sometimes. For Merlin's sake, Rose's cousin is in our house and it's not like she sits here every day. But people like Sam Goyle still consider Rose and her family to be "mudbloods" and "blood traitors."

"Sam…" Al starts red in the face and clenching his fists.

He gets cut off as Rose stands up with a death glare on her face.

"Rose, don't…" I hear Al, Will, and Alice say in unison. "Don't" what? They are probably trying to stop her from running out of here and crying. While I think Sam is a complete arse for calling Rose a mudblood, my wheels are turning. If Rose runs out of the Hall right now, I can go after her and comfort her. And then while she's crying in my muscular arms, she'll fall in love with me on the spot. I can skip a few steps in my nonexistent plan. Too easy.

I suppress the smirk that's playing at the ends of my lips as I get ready to follow her out of the Hall. As I watch Rose expecting to see her run away, my jaw hits the floor.

Rose Weasley's right hand is clenched in a fist as she lifts it to her eye level and then, in a flash, swings it forward and connects with Sam Goyle's puggy face. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Rose Weasley just _punched_ Sam Goyle in the face.

The entire Hall collectively gasps except for Al, Will, and Alice who are bent over laughing their arses off and Goyle who is currently yelling with his hands covering his nose, "I think I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding!" Very manly, Goyle, very frickin' manly.

Professor Longbottom makes his way over to our table clearly trying not to laugh at a student who just got decked in the face.

"Come with me," he mutters to Goyle. "You four," he says pointing to his daughter, Rose, Al, and Will, "detention, tomorrow."

Alice starts to gape at her father while Al and Will groan. "No arguments," he says to his daughter before walking out with Goyle in tow.

I look on in astonishment as Rose calmly sits down in her sit again and eats the rest of her dinner. I look back at Zabini and Mia who look just as shocked as I feel.

Zabini finally smirks and says, "Have fun in detention together."

* * *

A/N: This was annoyingly hard to write for some reason. Let me know what you guys think! Reviews with suggestions and feedback make me very, very happy :D!

And of course, thank you to those that reviewed, favorited, and followed the last chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

_September 9, 2022_

After classes and dinner, Mia and I walk out of Hogwarts' front doors toward Hagrid's hut.

"Do you think we'll have to go in the Forbidden Forest?" Mia asks while biting her nails.

"I don't know but they wouldn't make us do anything too dangerous. It is a _school_ for Merlin's sake," I mumble. I actively refrain from telling Mia some of my dad's detention stories from his days in school. He's likely lying anyway. I mean, what kind of school would tell children over and over again to stay away from the _Forbidden_ Forest because it's "too dangerous" and then make them spend detention in said dangerous Forbidden Forest unsupervised and at night?! That's just bloody insane. Right?

Mia nods but still wrinkles her nose. As I try to give Mia a reassuring smile, I hear Rose talking behind me.

"Al, I'm not going to apologize because _you_ laughed and got _yourself_ a detention too," I can hear Rose arguing.

"You couldn't have hexed him later?" Al retorts. "You just had to punch him in front of the _whole_ bloody school."

"Excuse me for defending my mum's lineage," Rose answers as they catch up to where we are on the path. She sticks her tongue out at him for good measure. Ah, clearly an adult move.

Al scoffs. "Okay, 'Chosen One', calm down," he responds sarcastically.

"I hate you," Rose mutters as she walks ahead of us and away from Al giving me a great view of her arse in her black workout leggings with a flannel shirt and black boots. She looks kinda good today. That outfit actually looks nice on her. It's like she's not trying too hard but still looks... _Woah!_ I never check out a girl's _outfit_. Her arse? Yes. Her legs? Yup. Her chest? Hell yea. What the hell is wrong with me today? This is nerdy Rose Weasley and my interest in her is _strictly_ business. Right? Right! I need to snap out of this.

I look over at Mia who is talking with Al now. She's wearing dark blue jeans, a tight green sweater, and fancier looking boots.

"You look nice today," I call out. "Great outfit," I add while nodding.

Al looks confused as he raises an eyebrow at me. Mia looks completely unfazed as she glances at me. "I know," she responds bluntly before continuing her conversation with Al. I roll my eyes. Oh right, _this_ is why I never compliment Mia Burke.

"Why do you hate Al, today?" I hear Will Jordan ask Rose. He and Alice are leaning against the outside wall of Hagrid's hut as the rest of us arrive.

"He's blaming me for his inability to control his emotions," Rose says while waving her hand dismissively.

Alice smirks and ties up her hair. "I, for one, think that this is worth it. Watching Sam Goyle crying like a little…"

"Evenin' ev'ryone!" a big scruffy man exclaims in a deep voice as he walks out of his hut.

"Will we be going in the Forest?" Mia blurts out before anyone can even greet the man. I mean, why would we politely greet our Professor when we can just yell questions at him instead?

"… no," Hagrid says looking at Mia with a side smile. Her shoulders visibly relax.

"Yeh'll be cleanin' the animal pen. No magic though," he continues.

I gag as I look at the now empty animal pen Hagrid normally uses to keep all of his creatures for his class. I'm certain that most of the things we'll be cleaning is animal droppings. I gag again.

"Do the professors just sit around and think of the most disgusting shit for us to do?" Mia asks me under her breath. I see Rose, who's standing next to Mia, crack a smile and nod.

"Please han' me yer wands," Hagrid says. We all approach him and hand over our wands while frowning.

"I'll put these in the hut," he continues, "the shovels are against that fence, better get to it!"

The six of us grab shovels and trash bags. We enter the pen and I again, start gagging.

"Rose, remember when I said you punching Goyle was worth it?" Alice asks.

"Yea," Rose says uneasily as she stares at a piece of (what is most likely) shit.

"I lied! Look at my shoes!" Alice cries.

"Okay, I agree this is gross but who wears high-heeled, designer boots to a detention run by _Hagrid_?" Rose asks eyeing Alice's shoes.

Alice gives Rose a pointed look and then smirks as she looks over at Mia's shoes. In Mia's defense, I don't think she owns anything other than fancy designer shoes.

Rose clears her throat and gives Mia an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I mean... designer shoes can be practical... at times."

Mia just shrugs and doesn't even look up. "No, not at all really," she admits while sizing up a rather large piece of shit with a disgusted look on her face.

That solicits a lot of eyebrow raising and smirking. Yup ladies and gentlemen, Mia is still... Mia. Will looks like he's about to respond until Hagrid walks back out of his hut.

"I got ter go get some things in the Forest wit Claw. I'll be back ter give yeh yer wands," Hagrid says cheerily with a wave before heading into the Forbidden Forest with his massive beast of a dog.

"10… 9… 8… 7…" I look over at Rose. Why is she counting down? "...4…3 …2 …1." As soon as she finishes, Al, Rose, Will, and Alice all drop their shovels.

Mia and I look at each other. The group hasn't even cleaned a tenth of the animal pen.

"What the hell?" I mouth to Mia.

She just shrugs at me.

"I think Rose should have to do it," I hear Al say. Do _what_ exactly?

"Don't be so sore, Al," Alice responds. "That's not fair. We can do that 'rock and sizzors' game thingy."

"No," Rose replies while rolling her eyes, "if it gets him to shut up, I'll do it." Do what exactly?!

I watch as Rose sticks her tongue out at Al again and makes her way toward Hagrid's hut. She pushes open one of his windows. What the hell? Mia smirks at me as Rose hoists herself through the window and disappears into the hut.

"I'm starting to like this bet more and more," Mia mutters to me.

"Oh my gosh." Will says loudly, "She just had to go through the window, didn't she?"

"I know, right?" Alice answers just as loudly, "She's _such_ a show-off."

"I bet the front door was unlocked," Al shouts.

Rose appears at the window again and sticks her head out. "I can hear you!" she yells.

"We know," they all answer in unison as Rose disappears into the hut again.

This is just too ridiculous. Am I living in a world where _Rose Weasley_ is climbing through windows and breaking into huts?

"What is she doing?" I ask no one specifically.

"You didn't actually think that we'd shovel shit with no magic?" Alice asks me. Uh, yea, yes I did actually.

"Won't we just get in more trouble if we don't do it?" I ask. Sure, I sneak around Hogwarts after curfew and attend unsanctioned parties but even I do what I'm told in detention. My mother would probably kill me if I got suspended.

Look, I _know_ I sound lame but if your mum was Astoria Malfoy, you'd be scared of pissing her off too. One time, my granddad tried to enroll me and my sister (who goes to Beauxbatons) in the Durmstang Institute behind my parents' back. How he planned to actually pull that off, I'll never know. When my parents found out, my dad was mad but my mum? I'll put it this way: Lucius Malfoy was actually _cowering_ in a corner at one point during my mum's never-ending and very scary tirade. My mum is barely 5 foot 4 and the man was cowering! My sister, my dad, and I even have a don't-mess-with-mum-today look to warn each other sometimes. But anyways, I digress...

Will gives me a huge grin showing off his blindingly white teeth. "Rosie is taking care of it," he responds. Awesome, thank you for the cryptic answer.

Just as I'm about to ask another question that will probably receive another useless answer, Rose appears at the window again, but this time with a wand. With a flick of her wrist, the trash bags fill up with the droppings and the animal pen is clean.

"Oh thank, Merlin!" Mia exclaims while throwing her shovel to the side with a flourish. What? No. What? Did Rose Weasley just break into Hagrid's hut, steal a wand, and magically finish our detention? No. Is this real life? This isn't real life.

"Your mouth's open," Mia whispers to me with that all-knowing Mia smirk she likes to wear sometimes. I roll my eyes at Mia while Rose uses the door to walk out of the hut.

"Look what I found, guys!" Rose says holding up a small and shiny black rectangle.

"Hagrid has a WizPod?" Alice asks while laughing.

"Nah, it was on his 'confiscated things' shelf," Rose says while playing with the WizPod in her hand. Regular iPods don't work at Hogwarts. There's too much magic so students started bringing the Wizard version. They usually all get confiscated within the first week of school. Mine is sadly sitting in Professor Longbottom's office.

"You can't," Al warns while rubbing his nose. "What if Hagrid comes back?"

"Hagrid won't be back for at least an hour, Al," Alice says while winking at Rose.

"Exactly," Rose agrees while nodding. She pushes a button and a drum beat starts filling the air.

"Mmmm, I love this song," she moans. Rose closes her eyes and starts moving her body to the beat. My mouth goes dry as I watch Rose sway her hips from side to side to the rhythm of the song. My brain barely registers that Alice and Will are laughing and talking as Rose spins around giving me a great view of her...

The beat is suddenly gone. I blink. Al somehow has grabbed the WizPod from Rose's grip.

"Al! Why did you cut off the music?" Rose says giving him a death glare.

"I have a headache," Al says slowly while giving me a pointed look. Shit! Did Al just see me checking out his cousin? Smooth Scorpius, real smooth.

"You… were… drool…ing," Mia whispers in her annoying sing song voice.

Rose sighs and I can't help but stare at her lips as she pouts. Al coughs loudly and I can feel his eyes boring into me. Mia starts sniggering... of course. Alright time to look up at that really interesting cloud in the sky.

"So, Rosie, how much trouble are you in for punching Goyle in the face?" I hear Will asking.

"Uncle Ron will probably give you a high five," Al responds.

Rose laughs. "Yea, Dad's not the problem but Mum's gonna kill me. She's a huge fan of violence," Rose says sarcastically. "I'm definitely in for a long speech and maybe extra chores over the break," she adds while sighing.

"She punched my dad," I blurt out finally looking down from the sky.

Rose is looking at me intently with her blue eyes. "Wait, what?" she says while walking over to me.

I smirk. I've _finally_ got her attention. She is standing directly in front of me, so close I can smell her. Is that lavender mixed with vanilla? She smells kinda good... Focus, Scorpius! Puddlemere United tickets!

She's raising an eyebrow at me. "Did you just say _my mum..._ _punched_ your dad?" she asks me.

"In the face," I say still smirking.

Her blue eyes start twinkling as she smirks at me. "Spill," she demands.

I shrug. "My dad told me. During their third year, your mum punched my dad in the face. Apparently, he was being a real arsehole… kinda like Goyle."

"Exactly, like Goyle," she says while biting her bottom lip. "Hmmm, maybe I can use this," she adds while squinting. Her eyelashes are even longer than I thought they were. Have her eyelashes always been that long?

"Thanks, Scorpius," she says excitedly making me blink and breaking me from my train of thought.

"No problem," I respond while running a hand through my hair. She grins and skips back to her friends.

I look over at Mia who's smirking at me. "This girl's going to chew you up and spit you out," she whispers.

I wink at Mia. Poor girl has no idea what she's talking about. _Operation Seduce..._ I mean _Operation Get_... oh whatever... Rose Weasley is so gonna fall in love with me!

* * *

A/N: I'm going to keep saying it because I still mean it: Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They make me oh sooo happy!

For some reason I imagine Astoria as a nice and proper but fierce woman (I mean, she did decide to marry into the Malfoy family!). Since it's Scorpius's POV, I do want to spend some time on his fam so let me know what you guys imagine them to be like! It will definitely be important in later chapters.

As always, reviews make me very, very happy! I've been writing this story out of order but I will try to have the next chapter completed, edited, and up soon!


	4. Chapter 4

_September 22, 2022_

It's been nearly two weeks since detention with Rose and I've made _a lot_ of progress. _Not_. I really don't understand this girl. I mean, I am the Scorpius Malfoy, right? So why has she barely noticed my existence. Sure, there has been polite waves in the hallway and the occasional thirty-second conversation but I need to up my game!

So today, I'm standing outside of the library. I never go in the library. The library freaks me out. Watching other people stress out makes me stress out. And Malfoys don't stress out about _anything_ so I stay away from the library.

But I also don't want to be carrying shopping bags on my vacation in France. And, do you know how hard it is to get box seats at Puddlemere United games? Really frickin' hard.

So I walk into library. I walk pass a number of Ravenclaws bent over scribbling away. I look between multiple bookshelves and in study rooms. Maybe she's not here? I'm almost ready to walk out until I notice light red curls in a secluded corner. I smirk as I walk up to her. She's biting her bottom lip and twirling a piece of her hair as her blue eyes scan a book. Her skirt's riding up as she crosses her legs.

I sit in a black leather armchair across from her. She looks up from her book. When she notices it's me, she raises her eyebrows and her mouth opens slightly.

"Hey Scorpius, what's going on?" she says with a confused look still on her face.

"Nothing, just trying to get some work done in the, um, library," I say looking around trying not to shutter. "What are you working on?" I add motioning toward her book.

"I didn't know you did your work in the library," she responds. "I'm working on Potions," she continues while holding up her book.

Time to lay it on thick. Girls like flirting, right? Right. _Especially_ when I'm the one flirting. "Well, if cuties like you are in the library, I'm going to have to keep coming," I say while winking at her.

Her forehead creases and her eyebrows raise to her hairline. I feel kinda nervous for some reason. I cough and I try to give her a smile.

"Ohhh," she finally responds, "you're kidding!" She starts laughing. "I'm sorry! Sometimes jokes just go right over my head," she adds.

"Right," I say nodding. Well, that went real well. Abort, abort, new tactic! "Umm, can you help me with Potions?" I ask not knowing what else to say. I actually don't need help in Potions. It's one of my favorite subjects. It's not just because it's easy for me to memorize the ingredients and steps. I actually like the mechanics and science behind it.

Rose's forehead creases again. "You want _my_ help with Potions?"

"Well yea, you're one of the smartest students in the year," I say smirking.

She wrinkles her nose and shifts a little in her sit. "Um, I do okay... but you're doing better than me in Potions," she responds.

Damn Rose Weasley and her ironclad logical reasoning skills. When I tried this on a Hufflepuff last year, she was more than happy to spend an hour "tutoring" me in a subject she was getting a Dreadful in. As expected, we didn't spend a lot of time studying.

"You can never learn too much from your peers, eh?" I ask.

"Um, sure, but I'm fairly certain you know what I know... and more," she comments.

Before I can say anything else stupid, Will Jordan saves me by plopping down in the chair next to Rose.

Rose visibly perks up in her seat. "Hi, Will," she says cheerily.

"What's up Rosie-Posie?" He turns toward me. "How's it going?"

"Good," I respond with a wary smile. He nods and turns back to Rose.

"You," he says to Rose. She leans toward him smiling.

What the hell is going on here? No way William Jordan is a better catch than me, the Scorpius Malfoy. He's tall sure… but I'm taller. I mean if dark, chocolate-looking skin rather than my pale skin is your thing, I guess that's cool. But in the hair department I totally win. He has short hair. He's nearly bald with a buzz cut! And I have my swoopy, sexy hair! There's just no comparison.

"Me?" Rose asks still smiling at Will.

"Hogsmeade, tonight with the regular crew?" Will asks. Ha, well that's a joke! Rose Weasley sneaking off to Hogsmeade. Not happening.

"I can't," Rose says while frowning. Knew it! Obviously. "I have to run in the morning but maybe next week?" What? Did she just say next week?

Will scoffs and frowns. "You're still training for that muggle race?"

Rose rolls her eyes but still smiles. "Of course, I am."

Will laughs. "Alright Rosie, whatever you say." He turns towards me. "Malfoy, try to talk some sense into her?" he says while smirking.

"Ha, yea, will try," I respond quietly while trying not to grimace.

"See ya, Rose, Malfoy," he says before taking off.

Rose waves and gets back to her reading. I squint at her and tap my finger. How do I crack this girl?

"You know, Rose," I finally say, "I run too."

She looks up at me again with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yea, we should totally run together, tomorrow," I say. What am I saying?!

"Don't you guys have practice tomorrow. Won't you be really tired?"

Yup, I probably shouldn't do this. Instead of saying that, I scoff. "I can totally handle it. My teammates call me Scorpius 'Stamina' Malfoy," I say with a grin while running a hand through my hair. What kind of stupid nickname is Scorpius Stamina Malfoy?!

Rose shrugs. "Okay, wanna meet me in front of the Great Hall at 6 am?"

"6 am, it is," I respond without thinking.

This won't be _too_ bad, right?

* * *

I had some time today so I decided to update! Thanks again for the follows, favorites, and reviews. I hope you guys continue to like the story :)!

Review please :P!


	5. Chapter 5

_September 23, 2022_

It's 6:05 AM and I'm zombie-walking toward a figure stretching in front of the Great Hall.

"Sorry, I'm late," I mumble tiredly as I approach her.

She smiles up at me. "No problem," she responds cheerily looking up from her impressive split. What human being is this happy in the morning? What human being is this flexible?

Her face falls as she appraises me. "Are you sure you wanna do this? You look so tired."

I stifle a yawn while looking back at her. "I'm totally fine. I'm ready to go," I say with false enthusiasm.

She hops up and stands in front of me. "Great! I like to do some laps around the Great Lake."

I yawn and respond, "Lead the way."

As she starts walking, I notice something on the back of her neck. Is that a tattoo... on Rose Weasley?! I've definitely seen that symbol before.

"Is that a tattoo on your neck?" I ask.

She smiles and touches the back of her neck lightly. "I forget people can see it when I put my hair up."

"Doesn't Dom have the same tattoo? What does the symbol mean?"

Her smile turns into a smirk. "So you and Dom have hooked up," she says. She says it like a statement not a question. Uhhhh… yes. One of my greatest accomplishments as a fifth year was hooking up with the very hot and older Dominique Weasley… but Rose, as the girl who is _supposed to be_ falling in love with me, shouldn't know that. Dom didn't tell her either I don't think. I distinctly remember Dom wanting to keep it a secret because she may or may not have had a boyfriend at the time. Oops.

"Uhh, what makes you say that?" I ask.

Rose laughs. "Well, my tattoo is on my neck but Dom's is in a more private place."

"Right," I say distractedly remembering that Dom's tattoo is on her lower right hip.

"Reminiscing?" Rose asks me teasingly.

I clear my throat. "No, of course not," I say shaking my head. "What does it mean?" I ask again trying to steer the subject away from Dom.

"It's the feminine symbol for family in Ancient Runes," she explains. "Vic started the trend when she got hers."

"She's your oldest cousin, right?" I ask.

"Yea," she says excitedly. "You know Vic?"

"Kinda, Teddy Lupin is my cousin and he's mentioned her before. My parents reached out to him some years ago so we see him sometimes," I say while shrugging.

She nods. "Cool, Teddy's awesome. But yea, Vic and Dom got matching tattoos for Dom's 16th birthday. Then Roxy and Molly thought it looked cool so they got theirs a couple of months following. And then I got mine last summer with Lily."

"Lily? Al's little sister in 4th year?"

Rose rolls her eyes. "Yea, Lily said she just wanted to come 'for support.' I should have known better. While I was in the back of the parlor getting mine done, she somehow convinced another Muggle tattoo artist that she was 18 and she didn't even have a fake!"

I laugh. "So do all of the girl cousins have it?"

"Nah, Lucy's just 13 and I don't think she's going to get one. She's a lot like my Uncle Percy. We're all a little crazy," she says with a smile, "but Luce is a tad more reserved."

"It's cool that your parents let you get a tattoo," I respond.

Rose raises an eyebrow. "HA! 'Let?' They lost it when they found out about my tattoos and they are _tiny_ ," she says while smirking. "But they responded pretty reasonably given the circumstances."

I smile at her. " _Tattoos_? You have more?"

She winks at me. "I do but we are at the lake now. So less talking and more jogging," she says breaking out into a run while smiling.

I start running trying to keep up. When did the lake get so damn big? When I catch up to her, she looks over at me. "Race ya to the other side?"

"You're on!"

Because I hate losing (even if it's to a girl that I need to fall in love with me), I start sprinting as fast as I can. I look back at Rose to taunt her... naturally.

As I'm smirking at her, her eyes open wide. "Scorpius, look out!" she screams before I slam into something _hard_. Everything starts fading as I feel myself falling backwards and then I hit something else with a thud.

"Oh! Shit!" is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

* * *

Why does it feel like someone's slamming my head with a rock over and over again?

"Soooo slugger," I hear Mia saying, "why did you knock Scorpius out?" Leave it to Mia to make light conversation.

"What? No! I wouldn't do that!" I hear Rose's voice respond.

After a pause she continues, "I mean... I wouldn't do that to someone who didn't deserve it." She sighs. "We were jogging and he ran into a tree and then hit his head on a rock when he fell." Oh, so I guess that explains the insufferable pain and pounding.

Mia snorts. "Seriously?" she responds clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

"What an idiot," Zabini deadpans.

I hate my friends.

I open my eyes noting I'm in a bed with white sheets. I look around and see bottles of potions on a side table. I blink twice as I realize I'm in the school infirmary. Rose is on one side of my bed while Zabini and Mia are on the other.

"I hate you guys," I say slightly turning to my so-called best friends. Zabini rolls his eyes while Mia doesn't even try to hold back her laughter any longer.

"How are you feeling?" Rose asks me while smiling weakly. "You took a hard fall. Madam Pomfrey says you probably have a concussion."

Mia laughs harder. Rose's eyes widen in apparent shock as she looks up at Mia. "How is this not funny?" Mia retorts. "He's been playing quidditch for _years_ and not one injury. But he goes _jogging_ and gets a brain injury? Only Scorpius."

Rose looks down at me with a guilty expression on her face. "I'm really sorry about what happened," she says while frowning.

"S'not your fault," I respond. "I'll survive," I continue trying to wink but I'm fairly sure it looks more like I'm wincing.

"I have to go to class soon but I'll bring your homework by later." She pats my hand giving me a weird tingling sensation before she leaves the infirmary.

Mia groans and crosses her arms. "You're going to guilt trip her into falling in love with you, aren't you?"

I stretch my hand trying to make the tingling sensation go away. "Yea... that's how I'll do it," I answer absentmindedly.

* * *

A/N: Why is this story so much harder to write than my last one? It's admittedly much slower! But hopefully not too boring? Be honest with me and make suggestions please!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Given the amazing feedback, how could I not continue this story?! I'll keep working at it and you-all keep the ideas/suggestions/encouragements coming and we'll see where we end up, yea?

Alright, here we go!

* * *

Madam Pomfrey is notorious for keeping students in the Hospital Wing for longer that necessary. Mia claims it is because she gets lonely and needs students to constantly boss around to keep her job. I think it has more to do with the fact that she can lose her job if her patients don't heal properly but Mia's theory can be right too... I guess.

Anyway, Pomfrey kept me in the Wing for a full week! Seven whole days just because I may have suffered some minor brain damage and because I had one or two "serious" gashes on my head. It's absolute madness.

 _But_ , there is some good news! Rose actually brings my homework to me everyday after dinner. This is probably because she feels a little guilty about me sprinting into a tree but Mia never said love by guilt trip is against the rules. On days when Rose does not have to rush off to some club meeting, she sits on the edge of my bed and talks to me. I usually learn some interesting tidbit about Rose or her family. For example:

1\. Hugo, her brother, is apparently insanely good at Wizard's Chess. I already knew of him because he's the Keeper for the Ravenclaw team. He's actually pretty good at quidditch too.

2\. She's not that close with Dom but wishes they were closer. I wasn't surprised by that. Dom's a bit... cold.

3\. The first time she really "rebelled" against her dad is when she told him she didn't want to try-out for the quidditch team when she was 12. He took it "fairly well."

4\. She has no idea what she wants to do after graduating. Her mum tries not to meddle but Rose is fairly certain that her lack of plan drives her mum insane.

5\. She's apparently the mastermind behind half of the pranks that Fred Weasley and James Potter pull. This one really shocked me. I had no idea Rose was not so... dork-like.

It's actually easy to talk to her when I'm not trying to flirt with her. Not that I'm interested in this stuff… at all. This is all about getting her to fall in love with me so I can win season tickets. She still won't tell me where her other tattoo or tattoos are but as I keep telling Mia and Zabini, this is a slow burn and I think I'm doing pretty damn good...

* * *

 _September 30, 2022_

So damn good that I have a plan. Today is my last day in the Hospital Wing and tonight when Rose visits me, she's going to agree to a date with me by the time she leaves. My master plan for today entails… asking her out on a date with me. Bet you didn't see that coming. But seriously, no girl has ever turned me down before so I'm not too worried about it. We'll chat for a little bit like we normally do. I'll suavely suggest that we go on a date. She'll swoon and say yes. Then, she'll be well on her way to falling in love with me. Boom.

She walks into the Hospital Wing after dinner with a stack of papers and books. I sigh and frown at the sight.

She smiles back at me. "Is seeing me really _that_ bad?" she quips as she takes the seat by my bed.

I laugh. "When you're holding a stack of papers the size of a mountain, yes, it _sucks_ to see you."

"It's not that bad," she presses. "In Muggle Studies, we get to write a few inches on a Muggle singer or band of our choice!"

"Hmmm… maybe I'll write mine on Journey. I like Journey and it's my mum's favorite…"

She gasps and her eyes widen. "You listen to Muggle music? You listen to Journey?"

I chuckle. "Surprised that a Malfoy would like Muggle music?"

She smirks and starts singing, " _Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world._ "

My jaw drops. Her voice is amazing. It's velvety. It's smooth. It's... breath-taking. She looks at me expectantly and motions for me to continue.

I gape at her for a few moments and then say, "There's no… no way I'm following that up."

She crosses her arms and squints at me. "If you were a true Journey fan, you'd be willing to belt it out no matter what."

I sigh and clear my throat. I close my eyes and belt out, " _She took the midnight train, goin' anywhere_."

"Malfoy!" she exclaims.

I wrinkle my nose and I feel my face heating up. "That bad, huh?"

"What? No," she says while shaking her head. "You can sing!"

My face heats up more. "You don't have to lie to me, Rose."

She laughs. I decide I kinda like it. When she laughs, her head falls back slightly and she lets out a fruity and silvery sound. "No, seriously," she assures me. "It's really good… for an amateur," she adds with a wink.

I groan. "That's the last time I ever sing for you," I say while pouting.

She laughs again and I can't help but smile. "I was just messing around. Seriously, you have a nice voice."

"Fine, you've twisted my arm. I'll take the compliment," I respond with a smug grin.

"Oh thank goodness," she says while putting a hand over her heart. "What ever would I have done if you didn't take my compliment?"

"Die of heartache, obviously," I deadpan.

"You're quite cocky, aren't you Malfoy?"

"Not cocky, confident," I retort giving her my best smirk.

She rolls her eyes while looking down at the stack. "Okay, Mr. Confidence, let's go over the rest of your assignments."

She looks down at a parchment and purses her lips as she reads over something. Her eyebrows furrow as she concentrates.

She pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear before speaking, "For Herbology, we have to…"

"Go on a date with me?" I blurt out. Shit. Did I really just say that out loud?

She drops the parchment she's holding and looks up at me quickly with her blue eyes the size of golfballs.

"What?" she croaks out in response.

* * *

A/N: Song lyrics are from Journey - Don't Stop Believin'


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